How Is A Wilson Football Made?

The NFL Experience gave fans a sneak peak at how these leather goods are created in five steps.

Much has changed throughout the Super Bowl’s 51-year history; one thing, however, remains constant: scoring a touchdown with a Wilson football. Since 1941, the company has crafted these leather missiles that have to be recognized as the iconic instrument of the the sport.

This past weekend Houstonia visited the Wilson Mobile Football Factory at the NFL Experience, hosted at the George R. Brown Convention Center, and witnessed the five basic steps:

1. Sewing

Every football starts out as flat leather pieces. The top half and the bottom half each consist of two eye-shaped petals, and are pre-manufactured in the factory. If the color looks off, that’s because they are sewn inside out.

4. Molding

This is where it becomes official. The football gets pressurized up to 120 pounds of force per square inch (or PSI; that’s the average pressure in a bicycle tire) in an aluminum tube. Finally, the pressure goes back down to 13 PSI and the ball is brushed to be as shiny as it is sturdy.